FC OSWESTRY Town have put their early-season problems behind them and are reaping the rewards with an excellent run of form.

Town have lost just once in their last 10 matches which has seen them climb up to eighth in the North West Counties Division One South after good results against some of the league’s in-form teams.

Club director Nick Maguire said recent results are partly down to the club overcoming some difficulties earlier in the season.

He said: “The initial problems we had at the start of the season have been resolved, which is good.

“After having a new manager and a good pre-season, the squad wasn’t really able to settle for a while, especially with the wait for international clearances for some of the players taking as long as they did.

“After that, when the players were finally allowed to play, it was like having pre-season all over again and trying to get the squad to gel, all while having to play fixtures in a busy schedule.

“On top of that, we had quite a tricky start in general, but with that being said I always did think that we’d kick on and start performing a lot better once the squad had settled, and we’ve done just that.”

Last time out, Town beat tough opposition in Cheadle Heath Nomads in a 2-0 home victory, giving them their seventh win of the season.

Nick spoke of how the in-form side have started to come together more during the recent run of form.

He added: “It feels as though this is the first time the squad has been settled at this club in about three seasons. We now have a squad that we can pick from every week and the players have come together well.

“We’ve had one loss in our last 10 outings which is fantastic, I should imagine we’ll be able to continue in this sort of form for some time now hopefully.

“The luxury we have now we have everyone available and the squad has settled down, is that we are able to identify the areas we need to improve.”

Nick also gave a mention to manager Matt Burton, who took over at the start of the season, and said the club are pleased with how he is doing, and revealed the club would be more than happy to finish around the position they are currently in.

He said: “Overall, we’re feeling very optimistic – we’re very happy with the job Matt’s doing.

“He’s a great manager who’s doing a very good job.

“He’s very good at talking to the lads and getting what he wants out of them which is a good bonus for us.

“It’s very early to say where we’d like to end up this season but going off current form I think we’d definitely like to finish in the top four.

“We understand it will be very difficult to push on and get promotion as it’s very tight at the top and there are some great teams in this league, but we’re optimistic, and why shouldn’t we be?

“With the way we’re playing recently we have a lot to be optimistic about.”

FC Oswestry Town next face bottom half side Cheadle Town in an away game on Saturday.

Cheadle come into the game on the back of three games without a win in the league, despite performing well last time out when they beat North West Counties League Premier Division side Bootle 5-0 in the second round of the Macron Cup.